63 
MUREX contrarius. 
TAB. XXIll. 
Spec. Cuar. Spire reversed, volutions five or six, 
slightly expanded at the upper part, and con- 
tracted towards the beak: surface with many 
rounded projections or smooth. Mouth irregu- 
larly ovate; beak rather short. 
Gmel. Syst. Nat. Tome 1. p. 3564. 
ee 
Tue last whorle is half the length of the shell, which is 
often very smooth, and three or four inches long. ‘The 
spire is longer than in the last, and the volutions more 
equal. 
This has always a more striking resemblance to the recent 
Murex antiquus of Linn. than the last, but the spire winds 
the contrary way. It is very rare to meet with a reversed 
recent shell of that species. The small specimen at the 
bottom of the plate appears to be a young shell, but the 
small shell figured in the upper part of the plate differs a 
little, it is rather longer in proportion, and has alternating 
larger and smaller strie; the mouth is reversed also, but 
broader towards the top, and the canula is lengthened 
a little. May it not be specifically distinct? if so, it might 
perhaps be distinguished by its neatness, and called Murex 
pulcher. 
